Illuminating sign-letter.



M. W. ASKIN.

ILLUMINATING SIGN LETTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.1,1913.

Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

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, main s'ra're ATET O F ortars w. Asian, or nnenvvarun,oortonnnof ILLUMINATING SIGN-LETTER.

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To all whom it may concern:

le it known that I, Monnrs lVuAsKIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Iflclgewater, in the county of J etferson and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements'in Illuminating Sign-Letters; and I do hereby declaretthe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention comprehends improvements in sign letters and relates more particularly to letters which include a lighting means so as to make them visible at night.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a letter of this type which shall be of extremely strong and simple construction, which shall require a minimum number of electric lights to properly illuminate the same and which shall also appear pleasing to 'the eye 1n the day time when umllummated.

Another and more specific object of the invention resides in. the provision of a letter formed of hollow sections formed with narrow longitudinal openings along their outer sides, so that the light shining through these openings will form any desired letter.

lVith these and other objects in view, as

will become more apparent as the descriptionuproceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which-- I a Figure 1 is a front view of an illuminated sign letter constructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane of line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing. by numerals, 10 designates, gene "ally, a letter of the alphabet, and for the purpose of illustration, I have shown my invention as being embodied in the letter A. The letter formed by the sections 11, 12 and 13, which may be constructed of any desired material, such as tin, galvanized iron, and the like, and which are suitably connected to one another so as to form the desired letter. Each section is made hollow and is essentially circular 111 cross section, as illustrated 111 Fig. 2; The front side of each sectlon is cut away H Specification of Letters l atent. I Patented Ann. 18,1914 Application filed August 1, 1913. Serial No. 782,516.

or longitudinally Sl()tt0l,h$ indicated by the numeral 14., leaving thespaced edges 15.

These openingsare formed centrally of the outer sides of the sections and will operate to form any letter desired. To the rear sides of the sections directly behind the slotsg or openin s 14, I secure a plurality of incandescent electric lights 16 which are visible through the openings and which produce a letter of great brilliancy. Any number of lights desired may be employed, but I have found that five are suliicient for the purpose of properly illuminating any letter of the alphabet.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a transverse view of the letter section which is provided interiorly with the concavo-co1wex walls 17 having their concave faces presented to the light and extending from the spaced edges 15 to the rear of the section. These plates are provided for the purpose of increasing the intensity of the light which is reflected through the openings 14;. The reflecting plates serve to reinforce the sections and form communicating"channels to outline a letter.

The interiors of the letter sections previously described, may be polished or coated with any suitable substance to produce light since it requires a large number of lights placed close together to secure an unbroken outline of light, it will be obvious that my improved letter forms a sign which can be much more cheaply illuminated since the number of lights required are not nearly as great as in the old type of letter.

From-the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be evident that I have designed an illuminated sign letter which is of strong and simple construction, cheap to manufacture, pleasing to the eye when unilluminated, and which requires a minimum number of lights to secure an unbroken line of light in the form of a letter.

It is to be understood that while I have shown and described the preferred embodimentof my invention, I do not wish to be limited to these exact constructions, combiare V-shaped or U-shaped in cross section and and formed along the entire length of the front side with a narrow longitudinal slot, a plurality of concaVo-conVeX reflecting plates secured longitudinally within each section and extending from the edges of the slot therein to the rear side of the section,

MORRIS W. AsinN.

WVitnesses: I

OHARLOTIE I-I MILLER, WALLACE OGILVIE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

, Washington, D. 0. 

